But Most Laborers Have Papers : 63 Illegal Aliens Held in Orange and Placentia

Border Patrol agents arrested 63 illegal aliens in Orange and Placentia Thursday after large numbers of laborers congregated in those cities.

But a larger number of the laborers gathered in search of jobs were not arrested because they had legal residency documents or had applied for amnesty under the Immigration Reform and Control Act, said E.M. (Dutch) Steenbakker, assistant patrol agent in charge at the Border Patrol station in San Clemente.

The sweeps were made in response to complaints from residents and merchants in the areas where the laborers congregate, he said. The Border Patrol has made a commitment to Orange to keep the number of illegal aliens down in the city, especially along Chapman Avenue and Hewes Street, popular spots for workers to gather in search of day jobs.

But Steenbakker said the Border Patrol has authority to round up only undocumented people.

“It appears the composition (of the gatherings of laborers) is changing,” Steenbakker said. “If they’re documented or have applied for amnesty, there’s nothing we can do except ask them to disperse.”

Steenbakker said that in April the number of laborers congregating in that area of Orange had fallen to about 40, which was acceptable. Because of “manpower restraints,” agents had stopped checking for awhile. But in response to recent complaints, an agent investigated and counted up to 200 laborers standing in the area at about 8:30 a.m.

“So we decided to go ahead and have an operation,” he said.

In Orange, agents found that 51% of the laborers were legal. The remainder--45 illegal aliens--were arrested. In Placentia, 78% were legal, and 18 illegal aliens were arrested, he said. Those arrested were taken to the San Clemente station, then to the Mexican border.

He noted that just because there are large groups of laborers gathering, it does not necessarily mean the people are illegal aliens. If the people who congregate have legal residency papers, Steenbakker said, “we can’t do anything about them. It becomes a community problem.”